Roundup: 2014's animation slate will be Pixar-free

Posted by · 3:46 am · September 19th, 2013

With the general consensus that this year’s Best Animated Feature Oscar race is a little on the lean side, we’ll be hoping for a better crop next year. That may well be the case, but it’ll have to happen without any help from category stalwarts Pixar. It appears that the blockbuster merchants have bumped their planned summer 2014 feature, “The Good Dinosaur,” forward a full 18 months — it’ll now open on November 25, 2015. That was the date formerly occupied by “Finding Nemo” sequel “Finding Dory,” for which you’ll now have to wait until June 2016. All that will make 2014 the first year since 2005 with no new Pixar feature. Hard news for fans, particularly those of us who didn’t think “Brave” or “Monsters University” were in the studio’s top tier. Here’s hoping they come back firing on all cylinders. [Variety

WikiLeaks has released the script for “The Fifth Estate,” accompanied by a 4000-word memo branding the film “harmful.” [Screen Daily]

Excellent piece by Lisa Schwarzbaum on “Blue Jasmine,” and the recognizable fear it taps into. [New York Times]

The Dissolve team weighs up the pros and cons of this year’s many “based on a true story” titles, from “The Butler” to “The Conjuring.” [The Dissolve

In the wake of “Salinger,” the Weinsteins are now planning a narrative feature based on the enigmatic author’s life. He’d be thrilled. [The Playlist]

Naomi Watts talks “Diana,” and why the princess needed to “heal herself.” I’m a fan of Watts, but her publicity on this one has been… odd. [Guardian]

Following his Oscar-hosting stint and his new sitcom “Dads,” Steven Zeitchik perceives a backlash against Seth MacFarlane. [LA Times]

On the possibility that “August: Osage County” will have its ending changed. [Hollywood]

Bryan Cranston, gunning for another Emmy win this weekend, is set to star in a biopic of blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo. [Cinema Blend]

It had to happen: a website that reviews movie reviews. [Existimatum]




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